1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of electrospraying and electrospinning of fibers or fibrous materials from polymer solutions.
2. Background of the Invention
Nanofibers are useful in a variety of fields from clothing industry to military applications. For example, in the biomaterial field, there is a strong interest in developing structures based on nanofibers that provide a scaffolding for tissue growth effectively supporting living cells. In the textile field, there is a strong interest in nanofibers because the nanofibers have a high surface area per unit mass that provides light but highly wear-resistant garments. As a class, carbon nanofibers are being used for example in reinforced composites, in heat management, and in reinforcement of elastomers. Many potential applications for nanofibers are being developed as the ability to manufacture and control their chemical and physical properties improves.
Electrospray/electrospinning techniques are used to form particles and fibers as small as one nanometer in a principal direction. The phenomenon of electrospray involves the formation of a droplet of polymer melt at an end of a needle, the electric charging of that droplet, and an expulsion of parts of the droplet because of the repulsive electric force due to the electric charges. In electrospraying, a solvent present in the parts of the droplet evaporates and small particles are formed but not fibers. The electrospinning technique is similar to the electrospray technique. However, in electrospinning and during the expulsion, fibers are formed from the liquid as the parts are expelled.
Glass fibers have existed in the sub-micron range for some time. Small micron diameter electrospun nanofibers have been manufactured and used commercially for air filtration applications for more than twenty years. Polymeric melt blown fibers have more recently been produced with diameters less than a micron. Several value-added nonwoven applications, including filtration, barrier fabrics, wipes, personal care, medical and pharmaceutical applications may benefit from the interesting technical properties of commercially available nanofibers and nanofiber webs. Electrospun nanofibers have a dimension less than 1 μm in one direction and preferably a dimension less than 100 nm in this direction. Nanofiber webs have typically been applied onto various substrates selected to provide appropriate mechanical properties and to provide complementary functionality to the nanofiber web. In the case of nanofiber filter media, substrates have been selected for pleating, filter fabrication, durability in use, and filter cleaning.
A basic electrospinning apparatus 10 is shown in FIG. 1 for the production of nanofibers. The apparatus 10 produces an electric field 12 that guides a polymer melt or solution 14 extruded from a tip 16 of a needle 18 to an electrode 20. An enclosure/syringe 22 stores the polymer solution 14. Conventionally, one end of a voltage source HV is electrically connected directly to the needle 18, and the other end of the voltage source HV is electrically connected to the electrode 20. The electric field 12 created between the tip 16 and the electrode 20 causes the polymer solution 14 to overcome cohesive forces that hold the polymer solution together. A jet of the polymer 14 is drawn from the tip 16 toward the electrode 20 by the electric field 12 (i.e. electric field extracted), and dries during flight from the needle 18 to the electrode 20 to form polymeric fibers, which can be collected downstream on the electrode 20.
The electrospinning process has been documented using a variety of polymers. One process of forming nanofibers is described for example in Structure Formation in Polymeric Fibers, by D. Salem, Hanser Publishers, 2001, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. By choosing a suitable polymer and solvent system, nanofibers with diameters less than 1 micron can be made.
Examples of fluids suitable for electrospraying and electrospinning include molten pitch, polymer solutions, polymer melts, polymers that are precursors to ceramics, and/or molten glassy materials. These polymers can include nylon, fluoropolymers, polyolefins, polyimides, polyesters, and other engineering polymers or textile forming polymers. A variety of fluids or materials besides those listed above have been used to make fibers including pure liquids, solutions of fibers, mixtures with small particles and biological polymers. A review and a list of the materials used to make fibers are described in U.S. patent application Publications US 2002/0090725 A1 and US 2002/0100725 A1, and in Huang et al., Composites Science and Technology, v63, 2003, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. U.S. patent application Publication No. US 2002/0090725 A1 describes biological materials and bio-compatible materials to be electroprocessed, as well as solvents that can be used for these materials. U.S. patent application Publication No. US 2002/0100725 A1 describes, besides the solvents and materials used for nanofibers, the difficulties of large scale production of the nanofibers including the volatilization of solvents in small spaces. Huang et al. give a partial list of materials/solvents that can be used to produce the nanofibers.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 3,280,229, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, describes metal needles for electrospinning via single or muliple electrified needles. Alternatively, electrospinning can occur from a receptor having a narrow end through which the fluid can exit the receptor and a long pointed electrode immersed in the fluid to electrify the fluid. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 705,691, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, describes a simple spray head as described above.
Further, U.S. patent application Publication Nos. US 2002/0007869A1, US 2002/0090725A1, US 2002/0100725A1, US 2002/0122840A1, and US 2002/0175449A1, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, describe a plurality of electrified needles used to increase a spray area for nanofiber production. These patent applications disclose methods by which a polymer fiber is distributed to a plurality of needles, each needle being connected to one or more conductive boards that have a high voltage. For example, U.S. patent application Publication No. US 2002/0122840A1 shows an apparatus for electrospinning in FIG. 2a in which two conductor boards 26 and 30 make electrical contact to each needle 32. A high voltage is applied to each needle 32 through the conductor boards 26 and 30 that are in direct contact with the needles. Further, both U.S. patent Publication Appl. No. 2002/0122840A1 and U.S. Pat. Publication Appl. No. US2002/0175449A1, describe electrospinning of polymer solutions through one or more charged conducting nozzles arranged on at least one conducting plate.
Hence, the background techniques using a multiplicity of individually electrified needles and/or a multiplicity of solution reservoirs are not conducive to large scale manufacturing. The number of controls necessary to control the electrical field at each needle scales with the number of needles, which may easily exceeds 100 needles for large scale production. Further, the control and delivery of the polymer solutions separately to each needle reservoir complicate the scale up to large scale nanofiber production.